Noosa economy needs NBN access

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COAST business has gone in to bat to improve access to the National Broadband Network in the second phase of the roll-out for areas like Noosa.

Sunshine Coast Business Council chair Sandy Zubrinich said her members were urging government representatives to improve the NBN coverage here.

"We must send a clear message to the Federal Government and make a strong case for inclusion in the second round," Ms Zubrinich said.

"The Sunshine Coast community, the council and our State and Federal MPs acknowledge the need to broaden our economic base by attracting new industries and skilled jobs to the region.

"There is enormous potential in areas such as health, education and aviation but having access to the latest technology will be essential for us to take advantage of the opportunities for growth."

Ms Zubrinich said suburbs covered by stage one of the rollout were confined to the coastal strip between Alexandra Headland and Coolum and west to Bli Bli and Diddillibah.

She said residents in the remainder of the region would learn next year if they would be connected to the network during the second phase.

She said representatives from across Australia would be beating a path to the government's door and the Coast should not sit on the sidelines.

"The business council has for some time been calling on our local, State and Federal representatives to work together on major issues and projects, to achieve the best possible results for the Coast," Ms Zubrinich said.

"It will have a significant impact on our immediate future in terms of how quickly we can get the local economy moving.

"In order to be competitive, to attract new business and skilled workers, we need access to the NBN and I urge our representatives to take action to ensure our region is fully covered in the second round."

The Noosa News reported last month that Noosa was not included in the NBN roll out of high speed broadband.

However Sunshine Coast council's broadband and digital economy manager Michael Whereat believed it would only be a matter of weeks before the Federal Government announced a fixed wireless service for areas such as Noosa.

Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss said not a single person in the Wide Bay electorate (Fraser Coast, South Burnett, Cooloola Coast) or Noosa areas would be able to connect to the NBN until at least the latter part of this decade.

"The people of Wide Bay bear their share of the liability for the NBN, but no one is getting any benefits," he said.